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WWE’s sports entertainment product can evoke a range of different emotions from fans and the company’s very own Superstars.
During Ric Flair’s WWE RAW retirement ceremony, for example, plenty of high-profile WWE personalities could be seen with tears in their eyes when the WWE Hall of Famer addressed the crowd in the middle of the ring.
On the flip side, Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman found it difficult to contain their laughter when R-Truth cut an unscripted promo on The Beast on an episode of WWE RAW in January 2020.
While Truth succeeded in his mission to make Lesnar laugh, he is not the only Superstar who has done something amusing in front of a live audience to get a laugh out of people backstage in WWE.
In this article, let’s take a look at five WWE moments that were met with laughter in the backstage area.
#5 Titus O’Neil’s WWE Greatest Royal Rumble botch
No matter what Titus O’Neil achieves in a WWE ring between now and the end of his career, he will forever be remembered for his epic entrance botch at the WWE Greatest Royal Rumble event in 2018.
O’Neil, who entered the 50-man Royal Rumble from the #39 position, lasted almost five minutes before he was eliminated by eventual winner Braun Strowman.
The Titus Worldwide leader explained on WWE show Botch Club that he was told to run down to the ring due to the size of the enormous ramp at the King Abdullah International Stadium.
“Well, I wasn’t nervous but the producers in the back were like, ‘Hurry, hurry, hurry, you gotta get down.’”
WWE footage even showed a producer speaking to O’Neil as he waited behind the curtain before his music hit.
“Get there as quick as you can, Titus.”
O’Neil followed orders and raced his way down to the ring as soon as his music played. The problem, however, was that he tripped at ringside and ended up sliding all the way underneath the ring.
As you can see above, the episode of Botch Club showed the live reactions of various WWE stars, including Shane McMahon and WWE NXT coach Matt Bloom.
Laughter could also be heard in the backstage area, particularly from WWE official Adam Pearce.
The good news is that O’Neil was not hurt in the incident. In fact, the bizarre botch even earned him a new batch of “Royal Stumble or Slide” merchandise.
#4 RETRIBUTION’s WWE reveal
The September 21, 2020 episode of WWE RAW saw five NXT Superstars reveal themselves to be members of RETRIBUTION: T-Bar (Dominik Dijakovic), Mace (Dio Maddin), Slapjack (Shane Thorne), Reckoning (Mia Yim), and Retaliation (Mercedes Martinez).
Many WWE fans took to Twitter throughout the show to mock the new identities of the RETRIBUTION members, and the reaction was reportedly similar amongst WWE Superstars backstage.
According to Wrestle Votes, someone within the company felt that the group’s new masks and names made it impossible for them to succeed in WWE.
Since revealing their identities, RETRIBUTION has a new leader – WWE Superstar Mustafa Ali – while Mercedes Martinez has returned to NXT after a brief run as the Retaliation character. As of the time of writing, it is still not known why Martinez left the group.
All five members of RETRIBUTION were drafted together in the 2020 WWE Draft.
WWE RAW selected the faction as the #11 pick on the second night of the Draft, with only The Fiend Bray Wyatt, Randy Orton, Charlotte Flair, Braun Strowman, Matt Riddle, and Jeff Hardy chosen ahead of them by the red brand.
#3 Kaitlyn’s WWE Battle Royal botch
In August 2012, Kaitlyn won a Battle Royal on WWE RAW to become the new number one contender for Layla’s WWE Divas Championship.
The finish was supposed to see Eve Torres win and set up a title match with Layla. However, Kaitlyn accidentally knocked Torres over the top rope with a powerful clothesline, meaning she won the Battle Royal instead.
Kaitlyn recalled in an interview with Ring The Belle that she expected to lose her job when she returned backstage after the botch. But, much to her surprise, WWE Chairman Vince McMahon was “laughing hysterically” when she walked through the curtain.
“I legit thought that when I walked back through the curtain that I was going to be fired. That was right on the cusp of the Divas getting more opportunities, so I was like, ‘Oh my God, I’ve f***** everything up.’ I walked back and Vince is laughing hysterically. I was like, ‘Is it an evil laugh, or…?!’”
WWE’s decision-makers rectified the error by having Aksana attack Kaitlyn at WWE Night of Champions, meaning she could not challenge Layla for the WWE Divas Championship.
Torres then took Kaitlyn’s place and defeated Layla to win the title.
#2 Xavier Woods’ trombone debut on WWE RAW
During the first year of The New Day’s WWE run, Xavier Woods often cheered on Big E and Kofi Kingston from ringside.
On one occasion, he was allowed to take a trombone with him and play it on The New Day’s way to the ring.
Woods recalled on The Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling podcast in 2020 that he had not been told to continue playing the trombone during the match, but he figured he should give it a try because he might only get one chance to play the instrument in WWE.
A WWE cameraman approached Woods during the commercial break and told him that Vince McMahon was in hysterics backstage.
“He said, ‘Vince is dying laughing in the back, he loves the trombone, keep playing it.’ Vince had tears in his eyes and he was screaming laughing, he loved it that much. When we got to the back he said, ‘Forever, forever, you will always be bringing out the trombone to the ring with you.’”
As Woods said, the trombone – which was given the name Francesca – became a weekly feature on WWE television.
#1 The WWE Hell in a Cell 2019 main event reaction
Seth Rollins retained the WWE Universal Championship against The Fiend Bray Wyatt in highly controversial circumstances at WWE Hell in a Cell 2019.
Even though Hell in a Cell matches have a No Disqualification stipulation, the referee decided to end the match as a no-contest after Rollins hit his motionless opponent in the head with a sledgehammer.
Inside the arena, WWE fans reacted to the unpopular finish with loud boos and chants of “Restart the match!”, “AEW!”, and “Refunds!”. Meanwhile, in the backstage area, Vince McMahon reportedly found humor in the response of the WWE Universe.
According to Fightful’s Sean Ross Sapp, the WWE Chairman was seen “laughing off the reaction” after the match.
Sapp also reported that the idea was “completely Vince McMahon’s call” and “his sight and vision played out how he wanted it”.
Later that month, The Fiend defeated Rollins in a rematch at WWE Crown Jewel to win the WWE Universal Championship for the first time in his career.
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